Customer Reviews

Gemini Ship

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Lawrence Marsden does a great job of recalling emotions, anecdotes, and observations from the holds to the gun turrets to the bridge of the U.S.S Doyen throughout WWII in the Pacific. What better way to get the feel of what it was like off Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima, and a hundred other landings during those dark years. This one is a must for WWII history buffs and for serious students of the Pacific Theater. Attack Transports such as the Doyen often got in close and often stayed in close to the beaches where their crews could observe the initial phases of the battle taking place on shore. Their observations can add much to the historical accuracy of these events.

I was a member of the Massachesetts Maritme Academy that took the USS Doyen APA-1 out of the moth ball fleet to prepare it for a training ship. Reading Larry Marsden's book made the ship and its accomplishments in WW11 a real person. It truly had a dual purpose in life. The men that served during the war and the cadets that trained in later years joined spiritual forces and lived in those passageways and on those decks in a strange symbietic way. A great tribute to the Amphibious Fleet and a great linkage to a nautical educational experience.

Board the U.S.S. Doyen with the author. Sail into the cool, misty waters off Kiska. Carouse with your shipmates during the journey of a lifetime. Engage the enemy at Iwo Jima. Reflect on how it all affected you. A must read for WWII scholars, all Armed Servicemen, and anyone interested in the human side of the last great war.

Unless you are an avid viewer of the "History Channel", the average person would think that World War Two, was Pearl Harbor,
Normandy, Gasoline Rationing, the Atom Bomb and it was over.
For America, the war started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Then there were grueling days that turned into months. There were invasions in the cold and the snow. Invasions of islands, that if you were not paying attention, you could sail right by. Invasions involving thousands of men, thousands of pieces of equipment, mountains of munitions. The list of invasions in World War Two, numbers in the thousands.
But we are familiar with only a few. What we get in reading
"Gemini Ship" is a chance to experience, every invasion
involved "Real Guys". Guys that bitched about everything, were
anxious about getting the job done and doing a good job, wishing the days would go by faster, hoping the mail would keep up with them. Hoping the entire War would be over the next time they heard Revellie. They were the "Greatest Generation" earning their stripes on the Pacific Ocean. In the 3 years and 10 months
America was fighting, we have been told 40 percent of the stories
about the prosecution of the war. This book tells us about the men who were there. You will enjoy yourself reading this book.